The Mahela Jayawardene-led 15-men Sri Lankan cricket team, without key
bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, arrived here today for
a four-match ODI series against India commencing at Kolkata's Eden
Gardens on February 8.
Off-spinner Muralitharan and left-arm pace bowler Vaas, Lanka's most
successful bowlers in one-dayers over more than a decade, are carrying
niggles and have been rested by the Lankan selectors ahead of the
March-April World Cup in the West Indies.
The side touring India, which is to play matches at Kolkata, Rajkot
(Feb 11), Goa (Feb 14) and Vishakapatnam (Feb 17), includes recalled
tall left-arm pacer Nuwan Zoysa, leg-spinner cum lower order batsman
Upul Chandana, middle order batsman Russel Arnold and medium pacer
Nuwan Kulasekera. The series provides the last chance for both Lanka
and hosts India to fine-tune for the World Cup, besides affording the
islanders a chance to avenge their 1-6 defeat in the previous series
the two sides had contested last season here.